From the world's grandest opera houses to the coziest of cabaret theaters, from a Verdi aria to a Cole Porter love song, Stephanie Blythe is at home.

The much sought-after mezzo-soprano finished up her stint as the fiery gypsy Azucena in the Metropolitan Opera's production of "Il Trovatore" just last week -- and now she heading to Fairfield University for something very different, but very close to her heart: an intimate performance with pianist Warren Jones.

Not opera. It's an "All American Song" program that highlights classics from the Great American Songbook of popular music and Broadway hits from the past century.

On Friday evening, Feb. 1, Blythe and Jones will be featured at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University. The program includes music by Cole Porter ("Night And Day" and "You Do Something To Me"); Irving Berlin ("You Don't Want My Peaches," "What'll I Do?" and "I Love a Piano"); the songwriting team of Buddy Desylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson ("Button Up Your Overcoat," "The Thrill is Gone," "You're the Cream in My Coffee" and "The Best Things In Life Are Free/Keep Your Sunny Side Up"); Samuel Barber ("Rain Has Fallen"); and Edward Confrey ("Kitten on the Keys").

More Information

Also a highlight will be a song cycle written especially for her by the late James Legg: "Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson." A pre-performance discussion with Laura Nash, a Fairfield University associate professor of music, will be offered at 7:15 p.m.

In a telephone chat from her Pennsylvania home, Blythe said the Fairfield concert will be her first in Connecticut -- and she is thrilled with the prospect.

In grand opera, it's "not possible, nor preferable" to see the faces of those in the audience. But in small-ish theaters (such as the 740-seat Quick Center), she aims to engage the audience in a mutual endeavor -- a shared experience.

She requests that the lights be turned up slightly, "so I can see the last person in the orchestra section, and that the audience can see each other. I would like them not to be sitting alone in the dark; this should be a group action," she said.

Blythe said that the Great American Songbook is a joy to perform:

"These are songs that were meant to be sung in the parlor after dinner, with everyone gathered around the piano. They were meant to be sung by the masses." Blythe pointed out that in the early part of the 20th century, at-home family musicals were a major source of entertainment (and large segments of society could read sheet music).

"If anything, I'd like to get people more interested in singing again. The songs are charming, nostalgic ... and very much a part of America's song tradition ... a very beautiful artform that more Americans" should embrace.

Raised in New York's Catskill Mountains, Blythe's love of music was nurtured from an early age. Her father was a jazz musician who played flute, saxophone and clarinet, and "music filled our home," she said.

Her school system's sophisticated music and arts program ignited her passion for singing -- which has sustained her the past 20 years, she said.

In concert, she also has performed with some of the world's finest orchestras, including those in New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Paris and Amsterdam. Named as Musical America's Vocalist of the Year in 2009, Blythe records for the Virgin Classics label.

Pianist Jones, who was named as Collaborative Pianist of the Year for 2010 by the Musical America publication, is principal pianist for the California-based chamber group Camerata Pacifica. A graduate of Boston's New England Conservatory, he is on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music and has more than 25 recordings to his credit.